Level Up Inquisitor [EN]: Chapter 46

Silence and Accompaniment (2)

Evermarch, one of Esmair’s central cities.

Thanks to its large size and convenient geographical location, it was a hub for many guilds operating within the Esmair region.

Of course, guilds capable of owning their own territories would settle there, but with the six major guilds occupying most of the land, it wasn’t an easy task.

The remaining guilds fiercely competed for the few territories not held by the six major guilds for political and strategic reasons, intensifying the competition several times over. Only a handful of guilds managed to secure a territory through this intense rivalry.

Therefore, even guilds with considerable size and regional influence would establish their base in such large cities.

And the White Fang guild headquarters, which had a skirmish with Aile, was also located here.

“So… are there any other developments?”

Godin, the guild master of White Fang, asked from his seat at the head of the conference table.

Then, the guild executives sitting on either side of the long table began to speak one by one.

“Frostflame is still showing a lukewarm response to negotiations. It seems they want us to offer something more.”

“Guild Master, let’s just break through head-on. Those guys are impossible to reason with. Our forces are more than capable of overwhelming them.”

“No, if we go to war like this, our plan to secure a territory within the year will be ruined, regardless of the outcome.”

“So, you’re saying we should give them everything they want? Even if we keep it a secret, the guild members will eventually find out, and it won’t end with just complaints.”

“That’s…”

As expected, the executives fervently debated for and against the idea, given the gravity of the matter. Godin, who had been listening silently, let out a small groan.

Even a small territory was incredibly valuable.

For any ambitious Warlord guild, acquiring one was like a long-cherished dream, and they had been planning to seize a small territory located on the outskirts of the Solstice region in the southeast within the year.

Of course, it was absolutely impossible to seize the territory with their strength alone, so they had formed an alliance with another guild to achieve their goal.

Several guilds allied with the same goal, sharing the profits and rights that could be obtained from the territory.

This type of alliance was common among mid-sized guilds like White Fang.

Unless they were a truly powerful force, it was too burdensome to apply for a stronghold battle against a guild or alliance that owned a territory.

Moreover, even if they won the battle and acquired the territory, it wasn’t the end.

Just as they attacked and seized the territory, they would have to continue defending it to prevent it from being taken by another guild, which required tremendous effort. This was why such alliances were formed to share the burden and gather strong forces.

‘How did we manage to get this opportunity…’

Godin gritted his teeth.

A full-scale war with the Frostflame Guild would inevitably lead to a weakening of their forces, making it difficult to participate in the alliance.

He had been building up his strength and securing a place in the alliance with the sole aim of acquiring a territory, and he couldn’t allow that to be ruined.

“What’s our alliance’s reaction?”

“They’re reluctant to weaken their forces at this point. I don’t think they’ll actively help us.”

“Yeah, they’d rather not get involved and find another guild. I’d do the same.”

Frostflame, known for their dirty fighting even when at a disadvantage, wouldn’t end the battle cleanly.

They wouldn’t want to take on such a troublesome opponent at such an important time when they were preparing for a stronghold battle.

Above all, their alliance was strictly confidential.

Keeping the alliance a secret from the guild that owned the territory was a basic requirement.

It was unrealistic to expect them to reveal their alliance and help them at this point.

‘The plans I’ve worked so hard to put together are about to fall apart in an instant. I need to find a solution somehow…’

However, it wasn’t easy to resolve the situation because the animosity between the two guilds was too severe.

Normally, he would have tried to smooth things over by appeasing them, but the problem was that Frostflame was full of warmongers who loved to fight.

Having grown from a small mercenary guild into a war-specialized guild, they didn’t shy away from wars between evenly matched guilds, and they were maintaining a similar attitude this time as well.

If it were a normal online game, they could just fight, dust themselves off, and move on, but the current game was Warlord, where a huge amount of money and many people were at stake for each guild.

Even a single defeat in war could result in enormous losses, and in the worst case, it could lead to the dissolution of the guild, not just a reduction in its power.

As the guild leader responsible for the members of the mid-sized guild White Fang, all of whom were professional players, he had to make a careful decision.

‘But I can’t afford to back down first. If I act submissively, it would tarnish the guild’s name, and the guild members wouldn’t stand for it. At the very least, we need to reach a point where we both step back… This is really a headache.’

When disputes arose between guilds of similar size, the basic stance of most guilds was to disengage appropriately, but it was difficult because of who the opponent was.

He wanted to bury his head in his hands in this frustrating situation, but he couldn’t show such a demeanor in front of the guild members, so he refrained from doing more than frowning.

Beep-!

At that moment, someone sent a signal from outside the access device [a device used to fully immerse oneself in the virtual world], and a call tone that only he could hear began to ring.

It seemed that someone had come all the way to his room.

“…I’ll be back in a moment. I’ll be right back.”

“Understood.”

Chee-ick!

The access device opened, and Godin slowly lifted his upper body out.

Waiting for him outside the game was his own younger brother, whom he had not expected at all.

“What brings you here?”

Godin asked as he finished taking his legs out of the access device.

If he needed pocket money as usual, there was no reason for him to come all the way to his house.

“There’s someone who needs to be taught a lesson.”

His brother said with a fiery look in his eyes.

His identity, burning with revenge, was none other than Beken, the swordsman who had been thoroughly defeated by Aile in the Ingol Forest.

Beken was a skilled player with a level of 176 and the younger brother of Godin, the guild master leading White Fang, which allowed him to live without fear.

However, his pride had been brutally trampled by a madman who came from who knows where, and he had even been tied to a pillar and burned at the stake.

The terrible experience of having his whole body burned by that horrifying white flame was something he never wanted to go through again.

Moreover, he couldn’t log in, his level had been reduced, he had lost his equipment, and even his quest item had disappeared.

In Warlord, you could see which items you had lost upon death, so he knew for sure.

The ‘Feather of Emergency’ was a quest item that he had purchased with great difficulty through a direct transaction, and he had been planning to proceed with the related quest after raising his stats a little more, but he never thought that he would lose it among the many items he possessed.

“Did you get into another fight somewhere? I’m sorry, but I don’t have the energy to clean up after you this time. I have enough headaches with the guild’s situation.”

“Wait… guild situation? What’s going on?”

“Yeah, we’re in a dispute with another mid-sized guild, and it’s killing me.”

Godin said, shaking his head.

Beken was so agitated by his answer that his arms were almost trembling.

‘Was what that guy said really true? No way!’

Aile’s story, which he had thought was a childish lie made up to get out of the situation.

He thought it was absurd that someone else knew more about his guild’s situation than he did.

But that absurd story was really coming true.

Beken, momentarily rolling his eyes in bewilderment, desperately clung to his older brother.

“Brother, brother…! That bastard dared to kill me, a member of White Fang! And that too, by a mere level 20! Sending one or two people to kill a low-level is nothing, right? This is nothing short of a declaration of war against our guild…!”

Godin sighed deeply at the sight of his brother rambling on endlessly.

“I have nothing more to say on this matter.”

“What…?”

“This is not child’s play. It’s a matter that could determine the fate of a guild with hundreds of members, and resolving it, whether through war or peace, is the priority. The money you spend lavishly all comes from here.”

“Ugh…!”

Kwaang!

Beken, trembling as he listened to his story, couldn’t contain his resentment and stormed out of the room.

He never dreamed that even his brother would ignore his situation.

Beken’s eyes, which had come out of the house as they were, were filled with uncontrollable anger towards Aile, shining faintly.

“Okay… I can just solve it myself, can’t I? I’ll make sure he never sets foot in Warlord again.”

* * *

After finishing his meal in reality, Aile, who had logged back in, diligently moved to the city and went straight to the Adventurer’s Guild.

He could have disposed of the items first, but this time, more than any other time, there was a reason to complete the quest first.

Suppressing his trembling heart, Aile approached the guild staff and completed the Batora subjugation quest.

It was recorded that he had single-handedly defeated the recommended minimum 3-person boss monster in Ingol Forest, so he was able to monopolize all the money and experience gained from completing the request.

[Level Up!]

A message announcing the level up appeared at the same time as the quest was completed.

Aile clenched both fists at the sight.

Originally, his experience situation would have only allowed him to level up once by clearing the boss and quest, but thanks to the experience gained from catching the suckers he luckily encountered… no, the three users of similar level, he was barely able to level up twice.

That meant that it was now time to use the long-awaited skill book.

Aile, who had moved to a place where people were not easily seen, took out two skill books from his inventory.

Two books that shone with a dazzling purple light.

“Please…!”

Before the full opening, Aile put his hands together and prayed.

If it was a normal skill book, he would have opened it without making a fuss and coolly moved on to the next one, but now the story was completely different.

‘Honestly, this is at least a high-grade, no matter what…!’

A purple skill book that occupied the fourth stage out of the six stages of the Warlord skill book.

On average, high-grade to rare grades appeared the most in high-grade skill books, and if you were extremely unlucky, a normal grade would come out.

It was said that you could aim for a heroic grade skill, which was the next grade after rare, with a small probability, but he didn’t even want to go that far.

If he could set up two rare grades from the start, he would have nothing more to wish for.

‘Okay… here I go. Come out!’

Aile took a deep breath and placed his hand on the purple skill book, from which a bright light burst out in all directions.

Paah!

[Thick Subcutaneous Fat (Lowest Grade)]

– Thick layers of fat slightly prevent fatal wounds.

– Defense increased by 14 (fixed value).

“Ah….”

The atmosphere suddenly turned cold.